All belongs to JK Rowling! XOXO -L

Chapter 2:

"Mr. Potter, Miss Evans. I am tasking you with the preparations of Hogwarts first annual Halloween Formal Dance. Professor Dumbledore believe it time to celebrate 'as the muggles do' for October 31st and he deems you two the best leaders for the job. You may use your prefects as a resource for help and remove yourselves from rounds duty from now up until the event is over."

James squeezed my hand and my eyes automatically shifted over. I scowled when I caught his eye.

"Something wrong, Miss Evans?" McGonagall asked. I ripped my hand from Potter's and regained composure. Potter really could wait to exhibit joy until after McGonagall stopped talking? So embarrassing.

"No professor, sorry." She gave me a strange look then continued.

"The dance is formal, but we do want to stay true to tradition festivities. Students are expected to wear costumes, appropriate ones I might add. If any students costume qualifies as 'inapropriate' by any of the chaperoning teachers and staff, they will be excused from the party. I am expecting drinks, snacks, decor and music. If I am notified that any muggle liquor has been snuck in, the dance will be over and the event discontinued. I am expecting a lot from you two. Do not let Gryffindor down." She gave us each a biscuit and we were excused.

Walking down the steps from her office, James prodded my side. "Can you believe it, Evans? We get to plan a school sanctioned rager! Oh, Merlin I am flooding with ideas. Want to skip first class and plan?"

"No, I don't want to skip class! Potter we live together, we will have plenty of time to plan."

"Uh, no we won't. You coop yourself up in the library until after hours because Pince is basically in love with you-"

"James!"

"And I have quidditch every evening and matches on weekends. When will we ever have time?"

I really hated skipping class, only having done it once when I had the flu and was banned from being around other students, but Potter kind of had a point. I really did come back from the library late every night and he was always away at the quidditch pitch.

"Fine." He clapped with boyish glee. "Let's head back to the dormitory." James lightly grabbed my elbow and stopped me from walking any further.

"The dormitory has bad party planning energy."

I stared at him blankly. "What?"

"I just mean that it doesn't vibe with my creative space. We need to find somewhere else."

"Since when are you a hippie?" Over the summer I saw American television programs that showed men with long hair and rounded glasses like John Lennon.

"I'm not a hippie, Evans. I just need a specific ambiance for this." I could practically see the light bulb go off in his head. "I know a place."

Next thing I knew, I was being dragged out into the rain, without my cloak, by a hopped-up on excitement James Potter.

"Where the hell are we going?" My socks were already soaked through and squishy like my mother's Christmas green jelly.

"Don't freak out." Something every girl loves to hear when blindly following a mad man in the pouring rain. We jogged up to the Whomping Willow and I immediately hated my life.

"No. No, no freaking way I am going near that thing! Are you crazy?"

"Just trust me!" He than took out his wand, probably to use the Imperious Curse on me to force me into walking towards the tree as bait while he goes through the tunnel. Gratefully, he aimed it at the tree. "Immobulous!"

The tree stopped moving and he turned to me. "Okay, now run to the tunnel."

"What? No, you run to the tunnel first."

"Evans, someone has to un-freeze the tree so no one gets suspicious and I don't want you to run the risk of getting hurt." Wow, I almost believed him. "So, go ahead." He gestured for me to jog into the opening.

"I don't know what the bloody hell is down there! You could leave me in there by myself to die for all I know, Potter!"

"Why would I do that?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe for all the times I've publicly humiliated you and turned you down? It's finally time for an ass kicking, then, huh?"

"Just trust me."

I hesitated. "No."

"Yes!" James ran his fingers through his floppy hair and took quick glance toward the castle. He knew just as well as I did that we could be caught at any second. Too bad I would rather take a detention than jump into a massacring tree.

"I will not go in there! Not without you in front!" He was my own personal bait to whatever lurked in there.

"Just go!"

"Make me!" James then shoved me into the tunnel, un-froze the tree and proceeded to drag my kicking body down the passage.

"You asshole!" He pulled me off my knees and ushered me through the tunnel, his chest on my back.

"I've been called worse." He looked down at me and smiled. "But, hey, nothings down here, right? So, you would've been fine if you'd just listened to me."

"Shut up." He loosened his grip around me and we were then walking, him a step behind.

"Keep moving there, friend. All the way to the first door on the left."

I turned and faced him with my puzzled expression. "Have you been here many times before?" Our noses were an inch apart, I could feel his breath.

"A couple, maybe a few." The glint in his eye was back.

I turned back forward and reached the door. It was a dark wood with scratches down the length of it. The gold door knob was still shiny and the door didn't squeak when I opened it.

"Just go ahead and sit on the sofa, the left side only though." I wrinkled my brow and he clarified. "The right side sinks because of the missing springs." I nodded.

James sat down on a cushion on the floor while I crossed my legs underneath me on the left side of the sofa. A notebook somehow appeared in his lap with a quill and he looked up with me ready to begin. His eyes were gleaming and his mouth relaxed. I could tell he held tension in his shoulders, as they were pressed up toward his ears and he had a faint stain on his tie.

Potter cleared his throat and I blocked myself out of my head.

"Ready?" I nodded and placed my hands on my lap, suddenly very aware of my body. "Great. So, I figured you could help explain to me this muggle holiday? I don't know a lot about Halloveen."

I smiled. "It's Halloween and it's pretty simple to understand once you get the concept. On October 31st, kids dress up as anyone or anything they want and go house to house asking for sweets. They say, 'trick or treat,' because if the people don't give them a treat, they play a trick on the house. I think it began as a christian holiday or something, but that's the modernized version that happens in my neighborhood."

"Sounds to me like bratty kids dress up and demand free candy until they are given some, and if not they vandalize the good people of Britain."

Laughing I say, "yep, sounds about right." I try not to look around the room too much. I don't know James' connection to this shack, but I figure it's personal and off-limits.

"What have you dressed up as, before?" That caught me off guard.

"Uh, well, I've been a princess, a witch actually before I was eleven funny enough, a bride and I think a vampire, too when I was about nine."

"Cute, little Lily as a bride. Adorable."

"Oh, shut up, Potter. My sister lent me her white dress and my mum fashioned me a table cloth as my veil. It was adorable."

"And who was the groom?" James asked, partly joking. My stomach lurched and my eyes averted to the floor.

"Severus, actually," I glanced up and Potter's grin was gone. "He had borrowed his father's suit jacket and had on a top hat, too."

"He's in love with you," James blurted out. Our eyes met for a millisecond before we both dodged each other's gaze.

"What makes you think that? He wants nothing to do with me." I whisper to avoid the tears welling up in my throat.

James shifts himself to his knees and puts his hands gently on my legs and looks at me directly. "It is so obvious, Evans. The way he looks at you, tenses around you, dances around you. He loves you."

"But, how do you know-"

The door rips open and a trio of soaked boys barge in. James rips is hands from me and stands up to greet the boys. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter all shake their hair out like dogs and make themselves comfortable in the room. Remus looks a little uncomfortable.

"What are you all doing here? You should be in class," I state as I straighten my skirt and play with my hair. Why am I fidgeting? Why am I flushed? What was James saying?

"Well said, Miss Head Girl who is also out of bounds and also out of class." Sirius lounges next to me, sinking into the couch and looking effortlessly cool.

"Not the point. Potter?" I looked up at him for answers. He shrugs.

"I told the boys where I would most likely be and they came to hang out. You understand, right Evans?"

Were we ever going to actually plan the party? Or was this a ruse to bother me and make me look stupid? I sigh and stand. "If I wanted to lay around and chat with your little boy band I would definitely make sure we weren't in some abandoned shack, Potter. Who knows what could come up here and murder us all?" Remus flinched and I felt a pang in my gut for some reason. I shook my head. "If you want to seriously plan the party with me, you know where to find me."

All four boys rolled their eyes and said, "the library" in a monotone voice of annoyance.

I huff and storm out. "Evans, wait!" I hear Potter call, but I keep walking.

I'm halfway through the tunnel when James jogs up behind me. "What?" I bark.

He takes a step back and looks at his feet. "I just thought you would need help getting back out," he stepped forward a bit. "Listen, I'm sorry about the guys coming up here. I know we were supposed to get work done and I made the wrong call. I'll skip quidditch tonight and meet you in the library to get some of the bases planned, okay?"

I nod and give a tight smile. James smiles back and I secretly melt the second his hazel eyes glint at me. He stabilizes the tree and I walk out, subconsciously swishing my hips a bit more than usual. I kick myself for it, but also smile at the idea of Potter enjoying the view.

I disgust myself sometimes.

"Alright, Evans?" James asked as he walked up to the large, oak table in the back corner of the library. I feel myself flush and clasp my book closed for a breeze.

"Excellent. Let's get started."

He slides in across from me and loosens his tie some more. "I was thinking maybe we could enchant the walls to look like a muggle neighborhood, ya know? Keep it authentic. Do you think that would work?"

Not bad. "Oh, yeah that's not too bad. I'll chat to Flitwick about it tomorrow," I swallowed. "How do you feel about a large dance floor in the middle of the hall and then a pumpkin patch in the back to hang out, you know large Hagrid-sized pumpkins, and then the tables toward the front?"

"Brilliant. People can eat, dance and snog in three different locations! I'm sure Minny will adore the pumpkin idea."

"It wasn't supposed to be a dedicated make-out area! Friends can hang out there, too!"

"And do what?" James chewed on his quill.

"Talk, play games, stare at all each other for all I care! I just don't want a herd of underclassman at the tables in the way."

"Fine, but don't be surprised to find kiddos exchanging mints over there…no hands."

I grimaced. "You're gross." He chuckled and clapped his hands.

"Oh, come on, Evans. Kissing is a sport and the more you do it the better you get at it. Hogwarts can't be getting a bad rep."

"Ugh, I'm sure there's a line of fifth years just itching to learn from the master himself." I began packing up my books.

"Master? Hmmm, word is getting around about me."

I rolled my eyes and smirked. "Please, don't try to tell me you don't spend day-in and day-out spreading those rumors about yourself. I doubt you've ever even been kissed."

He dramatically lurched back and his mouth dropped. "How dare you! I am the snog king, Lily Evans!"

"I'll have to take your word for it."

"Mmm, no you don't. I can prove it." He leaned forward and our noses were almost touching. I wasn't a baby and I wasn't going to back down. I let out a long, deep sigh and closed my eyes gently. When I felt him lean closer, I pecked his cheek and snapped back in a roar of laughter. He paused for a second in shock before sitting back and looking dumbfounded.

"You're evil." James explained in a joking manner. We planned and chatted and joked as the moon rose higher and higher.

Two hours later Madam Pince couldn't stretch the library hours any longer. She ushered us out and the party was practically planned.

"So date-wise, what were you thinking?" Potter asked me as he pushed back his long bangs. We started walking toward our portrait.

"Um, actually there was something I wanted to ask you about that." I had it on my mind all day since the shack. I mean, if I was going to ask someone, I wanted it to be someone I was comfortable with. Someone normal, and fun, too. And I did feel guilty about overreacting earlier to him. James look like a big bottle of soda had been shaken inside of his body and he was about to fizz out the anticipation of my question.

"Do you think Remus would be interested in going with me?"

James face fell. His eyes dropped immediately to his hands and he tugged on his sleeves. Running a hand through his hair he grunted out, "You'd have to ask him, Evans. Good luck with that one." With a tight-lipped smile he nodded toward me. "Well, I need a snack before bed, but I'll see you." James started to walk, but I stopped him.

"Kitchens? I'll come along if you want-"

"No, thanks, Evans." And then he was gone. I watched him take off and round the corner. Tucking a stray piece of hair behind my head I slowly shuffled back to the dormitory. That was weird.

Shit. I hope he didn't think I was going to ask him, wait.

That's exactly what he thought.

I'm such an asshole it's not even funny.